In Admission by Travis Thrasher, Jake Williams doesn’t remember. At least not the critical night of Spring Break his senior year where he ended up in his car, his clothes bloodied, and a gun on the floor.
Did Jake hurt someone?
Commit murder?
Is there a connection between the disappearance of Brian, the fellow student who beat Jake senseless and the gun in his car?
After failing to discover what happened, Jake blocks the event-wills it out of his mind. But do his college buddies or do they carry the truth away at graduation?
That’s the question Jake seeks an answer for as he takes on the mission of finding his school buddy, Alec, who’s disappeared with a wealthy businessman’s daughter. In present time, we follow a concise timeline to meet the buddies that Jake ran with in college. He seeks them out one by one to discover if anyone has heard from Alec. Thrasher alternates this present time hunt with a detailed look at the past where Thrasher reveals Jakes fun-seeking senior year, building up chapter by chapter to the fateful bloody morning.
Thrasher uses changes in point of view to differentiate between the time periods. He employs first person for present time and third person for college days, all with Jake as the narrator. I have to admit the change in POV caught me off guard. I enjoy reading first person and when Thrasher switched to third person, I had to remind myself that Jake was not speaking about himself in the third person, a dorky trait to be sure. But it was worth the effort to lay the changes aside and immerse myself in the plot, which for the most part moves along and definitely reaches a surprising yet satisfying ending.
Mystery aside, Thrasher uses real life, real people to draw the reader in. His characters are appealing and quirky. He shows us that those who think they have everything in their spiritual lives figured out often end up in the same throws of uncertainty as those who toss their faith aside for a time and reclaim it when life throws a curveball; that few of us ever figure it out, ever attain a level of spiritual trust that gives us ultimate peace 365 days per year.
For me the spiritual take away is, live real, live honest, but live for God. If you do, you’ll provide a much more compelling witness than if you profess to have it all together. God can use your failures, your mistakes, and ultimately your new life in Christ to bring others close to him.
I highly recommend this book. But beware. If you don’t want to see college students in the real world living crazy and wild, partying until they pass out, you might not want to pick this us.
Oh and for music lover’s you’re in for a bonus. Throughout the story, Thrasher highlights the popular bands and songs for the decade this book covers.
